The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 4, Matches 82-87

What is your favourite song in each match? Vote in all six matchups!

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  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
"The Cry Of Mankind" kicks off with a nice melancholy groove and some interesting drumming. The mostly-spoken vocals come off as more bored than depressed, which isn't great, and the groove starts to drag a bit before the change-up at the halfway mark. Then the repetitive hurdy-gurdy(?) part during the 6+ minute outro really wears out its welcome too. In the end this is a 12+ minute song that probably should have only been 4-5 minutes long. "The Crown Of Sympathy" is more direct and off-kilter out of the gate. The vocals are a little more convincing here, but still not very good. Not sure how I feel about the super-brief violin accents, but the longer violin passages work well. The atmospheric interlude with the bells is pretty good too. Everything seems to drag on and on, though, burning up way more time than the musical ideas deserve. Not a fan of either track, but @Magnus's nominee seems a little more interesting overall. Winner: My Dying Bride - "The Crown Of Sympathy"

"Can U Deliver" has solid riffs, good solos, and a reasonable vocal performance, but the song itself is just mediocre, derivative NWOBHM worship. "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)" has some nice guitar bits, and some nice bass and drum moments as well, but as a song it isn't particularly special. It's...fine. Still, that's enough to eke out this match-up, as much as that may draw @MrKnickerbocker's ire! Winner: Judas Priest - "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)"

"No Rule" is so lo-fi that it makes most black metal bands hang their heads in shame. I mean, this sounds like a dude went into a toilet stall, played the backing tracks on a mono tape recorder, and recorded himself singing on top of them on an even crappier mono tape recorder. That said, the song does have some pep, but it's very repetitive. And here comes Van Halen's "Jump", like the 18-wheeler smashing the bed in Metallica's "Enter Sandman" video. Bright, hook-laden, poppy hard rock perfection with great guitar and synth solos. No contest whatsoever. If you vote against Van Halen here you're just a sour old fart who hates music in general. Winner: Van Halen - "Jump"

"Everything Dies" has a weird, queasy, fascist chant of an opening, then goes extremely gentle with some bursts of heaviness for the chorus and the bridges. I kind of like the vibe here, though it's a little repetitive. The outro is cool, too. Pretty good overall. "Heroin" has cool riffs and a nice driving pace. The singer is a bit odd, like an 80s new wave vocalist with constipation or something, but he's fine. The harmonized interlude and the solo are pretty good, though the song does get a little repetitive. I could go either way on this, so congratulations @srfc, I'll break the tie in the direction of the MaidenFans nominee. Winner: Unto Others - "Heroin"

"Call Me Immortal" has good riffs, nice bass fills, and solid but not great vocal lines. Really good solos, though, and a nice outro. Pretty good overall, but not super memorable. "Anywhere In The Galaxy" has a moody intro, then kicks into full overblown bombast. The driving groove is nice, and the verses work well, but Kai's singing is a bit behind the beat on the pre-chorus and chorus. The vocal melodies are strong, though the Queeny harmony bits could be handled better. Great solos, and the riff under the first part is particularly cool. Kai's singing is uneven here, showing off all his pros and cons, though he's generally effective and sounds quite good in parts. I wouldn't have personally picked this Gamma Ray song for the GMSC, but it certainly has more character than its competitor and lots of other strong elements, so sorry @LooseCannon, but I have to go with @Shmoolikipod's nominee here. Winner: Gamma Ray - "Anywhere In The Galaxy"

"Voices" has some dope bass noodling and nice distorted accents rolling into a more driving rhythm. It leans a little heavily toward the theme from "Powerhouse" in places (think Rush's "La Villa Strangiato"), but mostly maintains its own identity. LaBrie gets to go all breathy, which is where he shines, and then waily to the point of losing his enunciation, which is unfortunately "the full LaBrie". The vocal lines are generally strong here, and even the stream of consciousness interlude works pretty well. Nice wah-laden solo (take notes on how to do this properly, Kirk Hammett). Very good stuff overall. "This Godless Endeavor" starts with some nice gentle 12-string action, and the singer sounds alright, though he has a weepy timbre to his voice. The shift to epic heaviness works well, though the vocal melodies aren't all that memorable. There are also some overly busy, less melodic sections that don't work as well. Pretty cool riffage around the 6 minute mark, though, and some nice neoclassical leads in the section that follows. I'm not sure that it holds together all that well as a song, and it runs a bit longer than it needs to, but there are lots of nice bits to it. Still, congratusorrylations @Shmoolikipod, this is an easy call for Dream Theater. Winner: Dream Theater - "Voices"
 
The Cry of Mankind has stellar atmosphere and is ungodly bloated. I made it to 9mins before checking the time and realized we weren’t even close to done yet. I adore the spooky vibes, but fucking hell I think this just diagnosed me with ADD. The Crown of Sympathy is literally the exact same length, somehow, which is weird. It’s more of a “song” than the first track, but for some reason I don’t find it as interesting (even though Mankind is basically a loop). The spoken word bit is lame.

I like Green Manalishi a lot, but I’ll easily be voting for an okay Armored Saint original over a Priest cover.

I hate pretty much everything about No Rule, but it is not Van Halen, and I do have a rule about voting for Van Halen.

Everything Dies is weird. The intro makes no sense and the rest sounds like alt-rock with a goth veneer. Heroin is groovy, yet melodic, and shockingly catchy. Unto Others is definitely more my vibe here.

Call Me Immortal isn’t my favorite Unleash The Archers song, but it still slays from the start. Amazing playing, singing, and good hooks. Pure adrenaline without ever sounding like lame, shrieky classic power metal. Speaking of classic cheese: it’s Gamma Ray! I like everything about this except the vocals, the major key chorus, the major key guitar solo and the endless double bass that sounds like a computer, which it turns out are pretty major aspects. Unleash The Archers by a mile.

Voices isn’t my favorite Awake track, but the solo is furious, LaBrie is at the literal height of his powers, and there are some really cool parts throughout. This Godless Endeavor has killer music but the vocals are weirdly theatrical and melodramatic and the lyrics stink. Not a fan at all.

Still, that's enough to eke out this match-up, as much as that may draw @MrKnickerbocker's ire!
This song is not one of my favorites by Saint, but I still think it’s fun.
If you vote against Van Halen here you're just a sour old fart who hates music in general.
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Like I said, not much mood or option for write-ups, so:

I like My Dying Bride's entire discography for the most part, so I'll automatically vote for the member's nomination.

Priest's best era + a great cover of Fleetwood Mac against an okay Armored Saint song.

Not a fan of Van Halen, but Jump is a great song, synth-pop or not, and its slick production is definitely more pleasing to the ear than whatever the opposition is doing in their parent's basement.

Type O Negative
, because of band bias (and vocals more pleasing to the ear)

Once again, I like UtA for the most part, but old-school PM beats modern-style overproduced PM any time.

Although I like Voices more as a part of the entire A Mind Besides Itself suite, but the song is indeed brilliant - I know that I've been saying all the time I don't like Awake as much as many others, but that's mainly because of the serious drop-off after The Silent Man; on the contrary, in a way, Voices is the pinnacle of the album. Still can't get into Nevermore, I just don't get the appeal. I've been trying on an off for the past 10 years or so, but I don't know. I'll go with the band I love.
 
This Armored Saint song has classic riffing and solos, but the chorus is weak. Green Manalishi was never one of my favorite Priest songs, but they made the song much better. That being said, the heavy riff, the anthemic harmony and the solos are great.

Another solid song by Unleash The Archers. They love galloping riffs! But it's a tough draw against one of Gamma Ray's best openers. Right from the intro! Anthemic and catchy vocals.

Dream Theater's song has a really cool solo.
 
Although I like Voices more as a part of the entire A Mind Besides Itself suite, but the song is indeed brilliant - I know that I've been saying all the time I don't like Awake as much as many others, but that's mainly because of the serious drop-off after The Silent Man; on the contrary, in a way, Voices is the pinnacle of the album. Still can't get into Nevermore, I just don't get the appeal. I've been trying on an off for the past 10 years or so, but I don't know. I'll go with the band I love.
I feel the exact opposite regarding Awake; I think the second half (beginning with The Mirror) is stronger than the first. I find Innocence Faded and The Silent Man to easily be the weakest songs on the album.
 
Since - to remind you - you're talking about Lifting Shadows, Space Dye Vest, Scarred and Lie also, by "stronger" you mean "more pungent", right? :innocent:
 
I mean come on, these are easily two of their most beautiful compositions ever. Really magical stuff.
Space Dye Vest is good, Lifting Shadows always felt fillery for me. And they have plenty of more beautiful pieces! Disappear, Through Her Eyes, Trial of Tears, Descent of the NOMACs...
 
I liked the atmosphere and accessibility of The Cry of Mankind. There are worse things than this 6 minute looping outro. I could come around to The Crown of Sympathy, but I was waiting for it to be over too soon.

Can You Deliver is a little derivative (I swear it was spelled "deriative" yesterday), but still fun and good. The Green Manalishi is a lot more memorable and has some great riffs.

No Rule exists. It's probably a novelty or some shit. Jump is at least iconic, even if it's not that great.

Pretty good power ballad from Type O Negative, sounds like it's better within the context of the album. It's mostly in the production here. I'm really not into this styling of metal, so I'm gonna vote for Heroin for being better than usual.

I have Apex some listens recently, Call Me Immortal stood out for sure. Beastly gallops and melodies! Anywhere in the Galaxy is my favourite Gamma Ray song though. Light-hearted power metal at its finest. Love the entire album for this vibe honestly. There are little details here and there that elevate it from being "yet another PM song" imo.

...Fuck. Another derby another hopeless outcome. Voices is gorgeous, the first couple of minutes until the spoken sample in particular are breathtaking. LaBrie and Moore really shine here. The solo is top notch as well. However... This Godless Endeavor is my #1. It's intense, dense, with riffs and licks so heavy they nail you to the floor. An abrupt 12 string intro and wall of sound that really tell you, "this is either special or ass". And that absolutely manic proggy bridge culminating with a squeal that heralds both my favourite section in all metal and the tears. This song came to me just before conscription, when I had to cope with dpdr in front of new people, and the lyrics hit home. Hard. So I'm also very sentimental about it. Well, at least it's gonna lose to a worthy song.
 
Anywhere in the Galaxy is my favourite Gamma Ray song though. Light-hearted power metal at its finest. Love the entire album for this vibe honestly. There are little details here and there that elevate it from being "yet another PM song" imo.
I respect your opinion but AITG is actually my least favorite Gamma Ray album opener. That's perhaps more indicative of the quality of their other openers though. I do like Power Plant quite a lot but this song was never one of my favorites.
 
I respect your opinion but AITG is actually my least favorite Gamma Ray album opener. That's perhaps more indicative of the quality of their other openers though. I do like Power Plant quite a lot but this song was never one of my favorites.
They have phenomenal openers for sure. A lot of them are the best on their album even. Into the Storm is the only one that really stinks (and it stinks).
 
My Dying Bride - The Cry of Mankind vs. My Dying Bride - The Crown of Sympathy
The Cry of Mankind was ok, bar the 4 or 5 mins of nonsense at the end, you would probably have needed to distill it down a bit to make it something I'd be interested in checking out more of. There was more happening in The Crown of Sympathy but it was less to my tastes than the first track The Cry of Mankind

Armored Saint - Can You Deliver vs. Judas Priest - The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)

Can You Deliver was pretty good, reminding me I need to check out more of Armored Saint, but it's up against a classic. Priest do a decent job of making covers their own. The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)

Leather Nun - No Rule vs. Van Halen - Jump

Leather Nun was awful, punk sounding like it was recorded on a ghetto blaster in the middle of a rehearsal room. Jump clearly about 20 levels above it. Jump

Type O Negative - Everything Dies vs. Unto Others - Heroin

Type O not for me, gave it about two minutes which was enough to know I wasn't voting against my own nominee nor was I interested in hearing much more of it. Unto Others are a relatively new band from Portland, Oregon. I discovered them when Spotify randomly played a track, I liked it checked out a few more, and had bought their back catalogue a day later. They have 2 full length albums out and a few EPs. I picked Heroin as it's their heaviest track, which I suspect is most likely to pique interest on here, but their material is basically a mix of 80's Heavy Metal and 80's Goth. Looking forward to their forthcoming 3rd album which they are recording at the moment. Heroin

Unleash the Archers - Call Me Immortal vs. Gamma Ray - Anywhere in the Galaxy

Call Me Immortal was pretty good, but I was left with a conundrum after it. I've heard quite a few Unleash the Archers songs now throughout the games and they've never been bad. But I rushed out to check the back catalogue of Blood Star after hearing them in an earlier round, yet both bands are essentially the same, but why did Blood Star grab me but Unleash the Archers never have? Gamma Ray was their better than usual Power Metal, especially the verse which was pretty much Painkiller album tracks ( Leather Rebel, Metal Meltdown) , however the chorus let it down with being just the same chorus every Power Metal song has. Also, points lost from using "running low" Call Me Immortal

Dream Theater - Voices vs. Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

Didn't like either too much but DT was more to my tastes Voices
 
This first match is tough because while neither of these songs are bad, they don’t do anything to justify their 12-minute runtimes. Seriously, The Cry of Mankind was over at seven minutes yet they decide to fade that guitar riff out for five more freaking minutes. I’ll bet these guys kill live. The Crown of Sympathy has a much different feel, but I can’t help but appreciate the riffage in comparison to the previous song (the verse riff is nice). Got some Opeth vibes in the tonalities. Plus the fade-out is only two minutes this time!

Can U Deliver is one of those songs that Armored Saint always whips out at their gigs instead of something from Symbol of Salvation you’d rather hear. It’s a solid song but too straightforward for my tastes. The middle section of the Priest song is cool, but I’d much rather listen to John Bush than Halford – and I don’t mind Halford. Armored Saint, even though they’re sadly getting clobbered.

What the hell is Leather Nun? Is this like the black metal of punk? I’ve heard some bad recordings before, but this is truly terrible. I just really don’t get Van Halen though. Everyone talks about how he was a guitar virtuoso, yet I don’t even hear any guitar in this song. In fact, I’ve never heard anything by this guy that wowed me. Give me Petrucci, Romeo, Satriani, and even freaking Yngwie any day. I hate Leather Nun for forcing me to vote for the synth pop (read: not metal) travesty that is Jump.

The next match is just as terrible. Sympathy vote for Heroin because it's losing, but I can’t stand either of these.

Finally, some decent stuff! I’ll be honest – this is one of those Unleash the Archers songs that I forgot existed, as it gets overshadowed by tunes like Matriarch and Apex. But it is quite good! The Gamma Ray song started off solid, but it soon devolves into why I have trouble with a lot of power metal; there’s no dynamics. It’s just running double bass for most of the song, and that gets really old really fast. Easy vote for Unleash the Archers.

I have given Nevermore so many chances, but I just cannot get into them. Their music is engaging enough, so I think it’s their vocals. I can’t describe exactly what I dislike about them – they’re just weird. Meanwhile, Voices is a classic. From Myung’s silky bass intro to Petrucci’s extra-chunky riffage to LaBrie singing from his nest up high before a cat strangled him, this is a mini-adventure from start to finish. The part at 3:25 is so freaking cool. As with most talking parts, though, the one here is lame. Then of course there’s the solo, and Portnoy’s random double bass bursts during the triumphant section. Easiest vote ever for Dream Theater.
 
"The Cry of Mankind" has some cool atmosphere but definitely doesn't go very far for that runtime. "The Crown of Sympathy" was awesome from beginning to end.

Armored Saint cuz they're losing but I could go either way here. "The Green Manalishi" has ridiculously good guitar solos though.

For some reason while I was listening to "No Rule" I just kept wishing we could go back to "My Immortal". That was a great early entry in the game. Anyway this is so fucking easy, Van Halen, duh. Only someone like Knick could vote against "Jump". Awesome song excellently constructed, a staple of '80s rock and pop music. "No Rule" is No Good.

So conflicted with this matchup. Type O Negative are very much my thing and "Everything Dies" is awesome. Doomy, gloomy, epic and raw. But "Heroin" absolutely KILLS! So heavy, a wall of sound representative of mania. I could do without the quieter moments but overall it's awesome. Unto Others is currently losing so I'll give them the vote, but this is gonna hurt one way or another. Two excellent songs.
Noooo DB just cast a vote for Unto Others and it scares me so I'm voting Type O Negative, fuck this matchup!

Unleash the Archers once again have me at a crossroads - on the one hand, the band is tight, energized, and Brittney Slayes has a killer voice. On the other hand, they still feel like a YouTube metal band. I'd vote for them over a lot of other songs, but "Anywhere in the Galaxy" is the best Gamma Ray song we've seen so far and pummels UtA to the ground. A better chorus and better vocals are all I need and this would be easily one of my favorite songs in the power metal genre. It gets so intense, man. Great stuff.

Another tough matchup, in a b-list sort of way. "Voices" is awesome from beginning to end. LaBrie has a pretty good performance (although his high notes still suck) and it's got some strong melodies. But Nevermore come in with a song that takes a while to get off the ground, but when it does, it's like a fighter jet shooting every fucking bird out of the sky. The guitarwork is red hot, Jesus! They're losing, so this will be a vote for Nevermore, but I'm okay with either song progressing.
 
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